30music.com
written by: Dan Doelker (05.20.2004)
These days, instrumental music is going off in all sorts of directions, at times bordering the psychedelic and at others being utterly sublime. And lately, with the “crescendo-core” of post-rock bands like Mogwai and Godspeed You! Black Emperor, there doesn’t seem to be much variation when it comes to bands just playing instruments. It seems every band has to see how quiet and how loud they can get and see just how long it takes to get from the former to the latter. However, there are a few bands that can make an instrumental format work, sound original and be pretty damn good. Rather than list such bands, exploration of criteria would be a better idea.
Does an instrumental band have to:
1) Start on a slow, quiet note and come to a loud, climactic end?
2) Use field recordings within songs to make a point?
3) Resemble an orchestra?
4) Have more than one stringed instrument?
5) Make eight similar sounding side projects?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, then it is truly your time to hear this record by probably the only instrumental band from Missoula, Montana. The record is a seven-song epic that is beautifully arranged, done by five (!) musicians and clocks in at 36 minutes. Why is that reason to listen? Because it gets the same job done that other contemporary instrumental bands take two full-length discs to do.
“Oh God, The Lights are Going Dim” opens the record on a flowing, upbeat note, accented by a tapping drum intro matched with s subtle, dreamy guitar line. The song goes on to overlap in mass quantities - drenched in sound and layers, but all kept together by a metronomic drumbeat. With the song’s subtle ambience and reserved qualities, the track is a good preview of what the listener is in for.
The next track is one of two tracks that surpass the eight-minute mark. However, neither song sounds drawn out. “No Memory of The Airshow” stays constant in its demeanor, straddling the line between docile and explosive. For how long this track is, it remains reserved in volume, but the content steps in a bit, showing an intensity that it relies more on the complexity of the composition. The other long player, “things/cells/beings,” exhibits a different side to the band, as it starts on a sampled note, tossing a more electronic element into a mostly analog recording. The song progresses as other instrumental aspects are introduced, but throughout shows a sinister side to the band’s relatively dark persona.
Other tracks of notability would be “Cross My Heart, Hope You Die,” which is overly dramatic in an extremely short amount of time; as well as “The Thing We Learned About Neptune,” which owes a bit to Sigur Rós. Although this record takes a few cues from other artists, it is anything but a rip-off. This is a Process of a Still Life are starkly original, as they blend the finer elements of instrumental rock to create something they can call their own. If spacing out to music is your thing, then consider this record the newest addition to your collection.
